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Friday March 29, 2024

RTA to have modern stations by end of March

By APP
January 15, 2018

Rawalpindi: Abandoning the decades old transport inspection system, Rawalpindi city will have modern Vehicle Inspection, Certification Station (VIC), by the end of March.

Talking to this agency, an official of Regional Transport Authority (RTA) informed that construction work on nearly 13 kanal piece of land near Rawat has been started and hoped that it would be completed till mid March.

He said, the Punjab government had made mandatory for commercial vehicles

in passenger and freight sector to pass fitness test of a OPUS Inspection, a Swedish firm which would start its operation here soon as land had been allotted to the firm in Rawat, at GT Road near Radio Pakistan and Pirwadhai Bus Stand to set up inspection workshops.

Opus Inspection, the Swedish firm, is establishing 39 state-of-the-art, Vehicle Inspection and Certification Stations (VICS) in all 36 districts of the province. Stations had already been made operational in Lahore, he added.

According to the new system, buses, vans, cabs, trolleys and trucks will be issued VICS certificate after alignment inspection, brake inspection, visual inspection, vehicle suspension verification, headlight inspection, emission inspection and vehicle noise inspection.

The transport department has set Rs1080 inspection fee for transport vehicle, Rs720 for each delivery van and motor cab, rickshaw and motorcycle rickshaw; whereas, the renewal fee after six months will be charged Rs540 for HTV and LTV, and Rs450 for delivery van, motor cabs and auto rickshaws.

Transport officials claim the modern inspection method will be helpful in controlling the road accidents and entering this sector into a modern era. “No public transport will be allowed to operate on roads without passing the seven inspections of international standard which aims to ensure road safety and minimize the number of accidents,” he told APP.

He added that the enforcement staff of the transport department will ensure every vehicle to get the VICS certificate. Divided into three categories, the VICS includes A-type station which will test LTV (Light Transport Vehicles) and HTV (Heavy Transport Vehicles).

Two stations will be established in Rawalpindi, one in Pirwadhai and another in Rawat. The B-type station having single inspection lane, will serve only LTV and provide inspection facility in Rawalpindi, Jehlum and Attock in Rawalpindi division.

The C-type station, is mobile unit and serve both LTV and HTV at facility centre in Chakwal, in Rawalpindi division. Maximum inspection time for HTV, LTV and rickshaws will be 30 minutes, 20min and 15min respectively.

Moreover, the owners/driver will take appointments through toll free numbers, SMS and website services. Separate air-conditioned customer areas, help desk and waiting areas will also

be established to provide good service to vehicle owner/driver during the inspection.

The Opus company had signed the agreement with Punjab government on BoT (Build, Operate and Transfer) basis. The company will make bi-annual inspection of a vehicle with different free structure for 30 years period.

The government has also provided land on lease for the VICS stations in all the cities. It is pertinent to mention here that in the recent past, the dilapidated condition of passenger vehicles caused horrific accidents in different areas which claimed a number of precious lives.

The existing system of inspection here managed by provincial transport authority through motor vehicle examiners has been criticised for making no proper testing for the vehicles. It mostly allows unfit vehicles to ply on roads especially in rural areas, towns and small cities.